Brooklyn Jail Stunned After Pizza Worker Impersonates FBI

It was a scene that might have seemed ripped from a darkly comic crime caper, but the events at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center on January 28, 2026, were all too real. Just before 7 p.m., Mark Anderson, a 36-year-old Minnesota native and Bronx pizzeria worker, strode into the intake area of the notorious federal jail, claiming to be an FBI agent on official business. His mission? To free Luigi Mangione, the man accused of the high-profile murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

According to multiple law enforcement sources and court records cited by The New York Daily News, AP, and CNN, Anderson approached the front desk with a confident—if bizarre—claim: he had an order "signed by a judge" authorizing Mangione’s release. When asked for his federal credentials, Anderson instead produced a Minnesota driver’s license. He then declared he had weapons in his bag, prompting jail staff to conduct a search.

Inside Anderson’s backpack, officers discovered a large barbecue fork and a round steel blade that looked suspiciously like a pizza cutter—a detail confirmed by both court filings and photographs included in the official criminal complaint. The scene only grew stranger as Anderson threw a stack of papers at the Bureau of Prisons staff. These documents, according to the FBI agent who prepared the complaint, appeared to be related to lawsuits Anderson intended to file against the Justice Department.

Anderson’s attempt at subterfuge was short-lived. He was promptly arrested and charged with impersonating a federal officer, a crime that carries a potential sentence of up to three years in prison. At his initial court appearance the following afternoon, Anderson appeared relaxed, even flashing a peace sign to spectators. Magistrate Judge Taryn Merkl, however, was unmoved by his demeanor. She ordered Anderson held without bail, citing his recent arrests in the Bronx—including cases involving allegedly carrying weapons—and labeling him a flight risk.

Anderson’s court-appointed attorney, Michael Weil, painted a picture of a troubled man in need of help rather than incarceration. “Mr. Anderson obviously needs some sort of treatment,” Weil told the court, arguing that his client should be released to check into a hospital. “It doesn’t seem like this was a serious attempt to spring a federal inmate. He didn’t have a badge. He didn’t have an FBI issued weapon.” Weil added, “He’s very alone in this world. He wasn’t raised by his family. He was raised in the system from the age of 13.” But Judge Merkl was not persuaded, especially in light of Anderson’s string of recent legal troubles while on pretrial release. “The court has serious reservations about releasing him on what essentially is his own signature,” she said, denying the request.

Anderson’s background is as complex as the episode itself. Born in Mankato, Minnesota, he has a history of drug and alcohol-related arrests and convictions stretching back two decades, as reported by AP. Public records show he has lived in both Minnesota and Wisconsin and has been involved in multiple lawsuits, often representing himself in court. In a 2021 lawsuit, Anderson described himself as having “multiple disabilities” and being “fully disabled because of mental illness,” according to Social Security Administration rulings. He has been committed to mental health facilities in the past and, more recently, found himself living in New York City, bouncing between motels, shelters, and a Bronx apartment. Anderson had moved to New York for a job opportunity that ultimately fell through, leading him to take up work at Louie and Ernie’s Pizza in the Bronx, according to law enforcement sources cited by The New York Daily News.

His legal entanglements in New York are numerous. Recent Bronx cases include charges of menacing with what appeared to be a gun, shoplifting, and mail theft. Anderson has also filed several handwritten lawsuits in federal court, including one against the FBI, which referenced topics as varied as "Grand Theft Auto 6," Heaven’s Gate, and “Mental and Emotional Inducement by Iran and the Satanic Church.”

The timing of Anderson’s ill-fated jailbreak attempt was notable. It came just days before Luigi Mangione, the intended beneficiary of his scheme, was scheduled for a pre-trial conference in Manhattan federal court on January 30, 2026. Mangione, 27, has become a cause célèbre among some critics of the health insurance industry, with supporters donning green clothing in court—a nod to the Mario Bros. character Luigi—and carrying signs proclaiming “Free Luigi” and “No Death For Luigi Mangione.”

Mangione’s legal troubles are as headline-grabbing as the attempt to free him. He stands accused of the December 4, 2024, execution-style murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside the company’s annual investor conference in Midtown Manhattan. Prosecutors allege Mangione meticulously planned the attack, even writing in his notebook about his desire to “wack” Thompson, motivated by what he described as UnitedHealthcare’s “parasitic” practice of denying insurance claims. Surveillance footage reportedly captured a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind, with the words “delay,” “deny,” and “depose” written on the ammunition—an apparent reference to common criticisms of insurance practices. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to both federal and state murder charges.

The legal wrangling over Mangione’s fate is ongoing and complex. Jury selection for his federal trial is set for September 8, 2026, with opening statements expected in October or January 2027, depending on whether the judge allows federal prosecutors to pursue the death penalty. Meanwhile, state prosecutors have pushed for Mangione’s state trial to begin as early as July 2026, arguing that the crime occurred in Manhattan and that the state has an overriding interest in prosecuting the case first. “The State has an overriding interest in trying this defendant for the cold-blooded execution of Brian Thompson on December 4, 2024,” Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann wrote. Mangione’s defense team, led by Karen Friedman Agnifilo, has emphasized the need for adequate time to prepare for the federal proceedings.

As for Anderson, his next court date is scheduled for February 12, 2026. Whether he will cross paths with Mangione at the Metropolitan Detention Center remains unclear, but for now, both men are held in the same complex—one an accused killer at the center of a national debate over health care, the other a troubled would-be liberator whose bizarre attempt has only deepened the intrigue surrounding the case.

In a city where the extraordinary sometimes feels routine, the story of Mark Anderson’s pizza-cutter jailbreak bid stands out—a strange, sad, and almost surreal chapter in the ongoing saga of Luigi Mangione and the murder of Brian Thompson.